Return of the Emblem Chapter Nine: Consolidating Forces

[Mercakete]

"Heh. Sure, thanks," Norbert replied as he waved off the hand offered him as it wasn't a big deal and just got up himself. "Well, looks like you're doing alright. Glad to see that blast of magic didn't leave any lasting effects," he commented as he returned to Rizen and leaned up against her, folding his arms.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

Less volatile than I expected...we'll see how it hold up. "That was handled well," Veronika said to Raquel with a nod of approval before she likely was going to respond to John's questions.

Nadya

"Oh, hush fussy," Nadya said, giving Luca a slight swat on the nose. "Well, Luca needs to stretch his legs a little more, Raquel doesn't seem to have much planned for us, so I'm gonna ride around for a bit. See ya later Reign," she said before trotting off.

[Ether]

"Yeah... I seem to be doing alright, I caught a lucky break... Mercy was smiling on me I guess... she wanted that sailor to start my heart back up... guess it wasn't my time quite yet." Faatina replied, her expression shifting from a grimace to a smile, as she leaned against the Dauntless, while Norbert leaned against Rizen.

[Mercakete]

'"Your heart stopped? That really was a close call, then," Norbert commented. Yeesh, if I'd been any slower... Wow. That's something. "Well, you lived, so that's that. Hm. Interesting, though..." he mused aloud towards the end of that.

[Phoenix]

Raquel

Gytha and Robin seemed to be in agreement, so Raquel relaxed and took one more deep breath. It was over. .. for the moment. Veronika seemed pleased with the results too, which was good. Raquel didn't have much else to go by. John made a timely maneuver and changed the subject. "Well ... first I need to speak with the Captain and find out whether we'll be leaving Tremere with him. Hopefully we are, since it'll save me at least fifteen hundred gold. Second, I was going to see if we couldn't find a cart or something to use for a little while. I wanted to stock up on more equipment while we're here, but moving the Dauntless off the the Leverager before it's absolutely necessary is ... no that's just not going to happen. Anyway, that's all I really have planned. If we need to take another ship out of here, I would spend the rest of our time looking for one that wasn't going to bankrupt me. I guess anyone who's not going to help with the ... 'shopping' can do whatever they want as long as they don't get into trouble."

She glanced back over at Aneda once the woman's expression changed. Wait ... "Aneda? Um, is something wrong?"

Reign

"Alright. See ya later. Probably. Doubt I'm getting off at this port ..." Reign replied, the last two comments being mostly muttering and self talk. I never saw too many of the land variety before. This should be interesting.

No gold. Oh well. Nadya was probably up to something else there ... like ... talking him out of his feeding grounds or something. That was probably it. Satisfied with this assessment, Luca went back to normal and followed Nadya's lead. He still didn't like the idea of being on a ship, but had an entire day to get used to it.

Gabbie

"Well it was hard to take my eyes off of you. One man after the other subdued with a couple of good lashes~ I actually had a personal best yesterday, myself. Too bad those always have to be so messy ..." Gabbie noted, looking off in some random direction with a grimace. The gathering got Davod's attention again, so Gabbie shrugged and said "Wanna have a closer look? Beats playing guessing games over here."

Message

A lone ebon cloaked figure entered a manse. He made his way only up to the center of the main hall. There he was greeted by one of the servants. "Is there something I can help you with, good sir?"

"I'm here to ... deliver a message to the director."

"And who may I ask is this message from?" The messenger simply flashed a small silver emblem attached to his cloak. The symbol had the palm of a human hand engraved on it. The servant recognized it immediately and didn't ask another question. "Right this way." he replied, beginning a lengthy walk. The messenger followed and soon the two reached an arched doorway. The messenger cocked his head at it as they approached. This was definitely the destination. The servant man stopped right in front of the door and knocked softly. "A guest, Director."

[ReformBlade]

"Huh? Well if it's my turn I need you and I to discuss some form of payment. I've been kinda strung along here for a good while, but you seem busy at the moment, I can wait~!" She put on a smile as if nothing was wrong. To be fair, nothing was... for now...

"Should we even bother? I mean I dunno, I wouldn't mind but it seems superfluous. Eh screw it, it'll give me a chance to see some people's personalities in action..." True, you should try and get to know more of them, who knows what kinda terrible horrible secrets they're hiding?

[Ether]

"Yeah... thank you Bert... if you hadn't grabbed me when you did, I wouldn't have made it." Faatina said, with a slight flush.

**********

"A guest, Director." The voice was accompanied by a soft knock. The man grimaced with displeasure at the concept. Just when things were about to get good.

"I shall return to you soon, my Goddess." The man said with a lustful grin, straightening the ceremonial robes he wore, and closing the curtain surrounding the smaller, less lavish bed in the corner. No response, just as he loved it.

Wiping the grin, as well as a spot of saliva, from his face, the man opened the door, his face tensing as he saw just who this 'guest' was.

"Ah, you must be a messenger from our... kind benefactors. Come in, come in." The man beckoned, shooing off the servant. As the man entered the chamber, the Director shut the door behind him, and locked it, as to avoid any intrusions.

"Now then, whatever can I, the great Cervantes Von Krausche, do for our fine benefactors at Org this evening?" The Director asked, with a flourish.

[Mercakete]

"Oh, you remember that, huh?" Norbert asked, a little surprised she did, though he didn't see it as that big of a deal. "Don't worry about it. Though... You mentioned Mercy just now. I thought you Rexians worshiped Aisha. You know about the four major gods, too?" he asked, finding it strange she would have brought up that particular name.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gytha really wasn't sure what to do. Normally she'd explore the port, but she wondered if Captain Bogdan needed her help in repairing either of the two ships. She also considered helping Raquel, though she was a little more reluctant to do that than the other options available to her. "Come get me if ye want t' talk," she simply said to Raquel, noting that the merchant had mentioned wanting to get to know the various individuals working for her. With that, she headed back below deck to seek out Maw and give her her morning treatment.

[Ether]

"Of course we know of them. Sanctuary may be out in the middle of nowhere, but it... I suppose that saying doesn't quite work in this instance... I... I was never the firmest believer in Lady Aisha's teachings..." Faatina replied.

"Though it is mostly just those in Sanctuary. Outside, many scorn the oasis-dwellers for following Lady Aisha... they did not share in the prosperity of Sanctuary's legendary golden walls." Faatina replied in a somewhat sarcastic tone.

"Not that they're all that impressive as people say... perhaps I have simply grown used to them..."

[Mercakete]

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Norbert agreed to Faatina's words, "Though barely scraping by can't be appealing either. I think Aisha needs to not concentrate her rule so much. If she can make life that luxurious in Sanctuary, she can spread it out more thinly so she isn't smothering one part of her country and leaving the rest to do their best without a real ruler. Wouldn't be perfect but nothing is and it's better than what it is now."

Norbert grimaced a little as he continued, "Though saying things like that gets me in trouble and I'm not the only one my actions effect anymore so I'm not going to get worked up over it." Then, he decided a subject-change was in order. "Well, that was a good spar. I'm still not as good as I want to be, so I'll just keep trying to condition myself and learn from my mistakes," he decided aloud before adding a bit jokingly, "And maybe pick easier fights."

With that, he pushed off of Rizen and began walking away to find Ranyin. As he started off, he mentioned to Faatina, "Your brother did a good job teaching you to fight. See you later."

And then he began the great Ranyin hunt which actually didn't last very long. Ranyin had mended the tunic, as asked and Norbert handed him some gold as compensation before slipping on said tunic and arranging his belt so that it was over his tunic again. Ranyin wanted to get back to his reading, though, so the pegasis rider left him in peace as he walked back to the Dauntless to collect his armor. He was fairly curious as to how it turned out and wanted to start getting used to moving around in it as soon as possible. So, leaving Rizen outside the Dauntless again, he entered the enforced wagon once more.

And sure enough, there was Connor. "Hey there," Norbert greeted, "Is my armor ready?"

Edited April 27, 2012 by Mercakete

[Acacia Sgt]

Seems that it was similar business than back at the last port. <I suppose I can lend a hand at that.> John thought. <Though with those crowded places I doubt I could bring Gil along, unless he stays content in staying at the air all the time, heh.> Well, she wasn't leaving right away, so some more waiting was in order.

Meanwhile, Sophia had been deep in thought. I suppose it can't be helped. She thought. Such problems because of the emblem. I guess it makes sense. But then, when we make it back to Ursium, we'd now have them to worry about too? She sighed.

Not that shortly after did Raquel announced her current plans. I suppose I should go with her. She thought. It could help distract my mind from all this...

[Phoenix]

Eavesdropping

Davod changed his mind about leaving the small gathering to its own affairs and he and Gabbie moved a little closer to see what was going on. Barely catching the end of the dispute between Gytha and Robin, Gabbie rolled her eyes. We actually needed Raquel ... RAQUEL to settle that? What joke. Once it was Aneda's turn, she brought up her pay. Gabbie shrugged. Seemed one more person hadn't learned about the money grabbing that had become so common since Weyland started paying Raquel in astronomical amounts.

Gold

"I'm not trying to string anyone along, but it's difficult to get everyone together in one spot so I can ... 'distribute the funds'. I'm probably being a little too trusting here, but I've been letting people take their cut from the missions we did for Professor Weyland. I'll figure out how to get a proper payout going once I learn to ... 'herd' people better." Raquel replied, deciding to address that issue then and there.

Something

"We have reason to believe that extremely high value targets will be passing through the area soon," the messenger began. "Ordinarily this would require several strike teams to deal with, but with so little manpower in the area, it is more expedient to call on your services. My superiors also believe your knowledge of this city and resources could be used to greater effect than a simple strike force." he explained.

[Ether]

"Ah, yes. I believe I do owe that favour, do I not?" The Director began, with a boisterous chuckle. Moving closer to his desk and lifting from it a goblet filled with a dark red liquid, the man took a delicate sip, shivering with delight at the flavour.

"Wine imported from Ursium... my personal favorite, it has such a rich flavour... care for a glass?" The Director asked, pulling a second goblet from his storage.

Pouring the wine, Cervantes set it in front of the messenger. If he would not drink it, the Director himself would drink a second helping without any woe. Sitting down on an extremely expensive looking chair, complete with embedded gems and gold, Cervantes gave the man a curious gaze.

"So, who is this priority target of yours?" The man asked, taking another drink of his wine.

*********

"See ya, Norbert." Faatina said after him, not sure if he caught it or not. What to do now... ?

[-Cynthia-]

Reporting

"Um, should we stable our pegasi somewhere? I'm not sure the boss will want to see them if he's in a bad mood," Clara asked the man timidly. On edge doesn't sound good at all...

What's the reward system for working in the Org anyway? Succeed on one mission, get sent to someplace shittier? Layla is a crappy boss. Cloe thought to herself, attempting to appear stoic.

Connor

"Well...it's pretty much done," Connor replied to Bert, barely lifting the suit for the pegasus knight's inspection. "I'm a little concerned about the craftsman ship of the forehead guard, it wasn't included in the transmutation obviously so it was custom-made. It's... serviceable I guess," he said, frowning at the troublesome piece of the armor. It's what I get for trying to do two jobs in one day I guess.

[Snowy_One]

"It may be easier to heard cats than the people in this group." remarked Robin in reply to Raquel's comment, squishing the thought of Gytha making it harder by shooting people. She had apologized. "Raquel, I will be leaving to buy the materials for tonight's dinner. I will remember the prices in the event you feel you should pay for it. Do you have any requests? I make a good venison stew."

[ReformBlade]

Wait... I could've been taking... Son of a BITCH. "Well... ok then. Then you'd be fine with me taking a share, right?" It seemed logical to her, but she was still furious, at no one in particular, so she didn't wanna agitate her boss and more importantly herself.

Davod scratched his head a little. "Wait, you people work for Weyland? I may have missed that part in the bar if you mentioned that... Damn, I got kinda lucky, didn't I?"

[Mercakete]

It was still mostly black leather, but there were definitely changes. Plates of metal were sectioned off where before there had been grooves in it the leather patterns. It offered better protection while only increasing the weight a relatively small amount and remaining fairly easy to move around in. That aside, the metal bits on the chest piece were bordered in a dull red. Likewise, where the bright red stripes had been on his boots were now the same dull red. The shoulders of the jerkin had previously curled up a little to help in guarding the shoulders and neck, but now they were metal shoulder guards built into the jerkin with the same, dull red bordering. There was metal plating going down the gloves and his boots now had metal over the toes and metal plating over the front of it. The parts that hung down off of the jerkin were now layers of metal plate, too. And the forehead guard had a matching metal plate at its fore and could be tied on with ease.

"This is great! Thanks, Connor," Norbert thanked as he pulled on his improved jerkin, then tied on his new forehead guard. After that he pulled on his boots, tucked his pant legs into them and finally donned his improved gloves. "I'll be sure to ask for your help in the future," he commented before taking some of his share of the gold, (deciding it'd be a good idea to carry some around with him) and exiting the Dauntless.

"So, what do you think?" he asked his pegasus after he'd walked over to her. Riz reached out with her nose and sniffed Norbert's new armor, snorting at the end of it and bringing her head back with a light whinny. Bert couldn't tell if that meant she was skeptical about carrying that or if she approved. He hooked his fingers around her bridle and allowed his arm to just hang off of it as he began walking towards the port, slipping the gold he'd taken with him into her saddlebag, shrugging off the response since he couldn't interpret it anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, Maw was where Gytha thought she'd be: in the hold near the galley where the grain was kept. Treating the cat went as it normally did, then Gytha decided to leave her to the rats. She couldn't see any at the moment, but that was just another reason to leave since she was probably interrupting Maw's hunt. Once she was back on deck, she really wasn't sure what to do at the moment, so she just wandered back over to where the others were talking to maybe get some ideas on how to spend her time.

[Phoenix]

Gathering

"Yeah, that should be fine." Raquel replied to Aneda. Deep down, she felt guilty about the payment issues, but getting the group together for just an announcement took some good timing. Going to them all individually was another option, but tedious and she also had things and worries on her mind that kept her from bothering. Honestly, she just didn't want to deal with the issue while no one was complaining.

Gabbie took that moment to answer Davod, which was around the same time Robin began talking about her dinner plans. "I work for Weyland. So do Mireille and Sophia. The rest of them just ran a couple of errands for him. But yeah, you struck big with us ... but just keep on your toes. None of us ever thought we'd have flying coffins gunning for us ...."

Raquel was a bit surprised to hear Robin mention her paying for the food. Why would I want to pay for it? It's all I can do to keep from getting cheated by dock workers, right now. I think all of these negatives are slowly making me stingy ... "I didn't have anything in mind, really. Being on the Leverager reminded me of that stir fry Fira made. I could go for some of that, again."

"Is Robin theee chef ... now ... or something?" Gabbie finally asked. "That's weird."

Messaging

"The target's name is Raquel Valcyn. There may also be another among them to consider, but more on that one in a moment." he explained. When the offer of wine came, the messenger politely declined with a show of his palm. "Raquel has gotten into a bit of arms dealing and travels in the company of a lot of mercenaries. However you deal with them is fine so long as Raquel is kept alive. If possible, there is a young boy among them that would also serve us well if kept ... alive. Frankly, you might have to kill everyone else, but anyone who lives should be handed over to us. My superiors would be most grateful."

Arriving

"You can hitch the flying horse birds outside the tavern or take them to the stables down the street. Your choice, but if you're here for an assignment, you might as well hitch them by the tavern." the man replied.

Now that he mentions it, we might just end up getting assigned to a specific task. Unless one of us stayed behind, it'd be difficult to keep a close eye on Sardis. I'm not sure what to do if he sends us off somewhere. I suppose I could try to talk him out of it but ... I'm not sure what kind of man he is or what tools to use ... Cecily thought to herself. "It shouldn't take too long to figure out our next assignment, so we'll put them in the stables later if we find out we'll be here for awhile. How does that sound?" she asked her sisters.

Edited April 28, 2012 by Phoenix

[ReformBlade]

"OK then~" She said, a whee bit miffed but having money in the bank had the odd effect of making her forget her anger. "Then I'll do just that. Thanks for your time!" Aneda walked off with Hannah, a smile on her face. Finally! I get some money to spend on me and my good ol friend!

"Oh, I was close at least, heh... Wait, did you say... coffins?" Yes, she did say coffins. Coffins gunning after em, at that... "Coffins? As in, those things tha-that you put d-dead people in? You know..." I'd suggest leaving that for another time, Dav, you seem shook up already! It could be a vast misunderstanding your friggin scaredy-cat! "Yeah, I'll leave that for another time. Anyway, I can assume that they're currently on an assignment from Mr Weyland right now? Or is that just in the past?"

[Phoenix]

Gathering

Raquel simply ignored Gabbie's question since she wasn't sure how to answer it. Robin was right there and could speak for herself. There were more important things to think about. "Well ... I should speak with the captain, now. Hopefully he has time, now." I kind of doubt it.

She was still curious, but Davod had questions of his own. "Yeah, flying coffins. That was fun. I'll tell ya the whole story once you're drunk enough to believe it." Gabbie answered, glaring off in a seemingly random direction. "I guess you could say it's an assoignment, of sorts." she answered the second question with a shrug. Still no answer about the cooking shenanigans, though.

[Ether]

"Of course, of course. Raquel Valcyn, hmm?" The Director noted, a grin forming on his face, fading slightly as the man refused the wine, but perking back up once again at the thought of an excuse for a second glass.

"Alive I can do, and all the men shall be informed that if it is not followed, the Goddess' Judgment shall fall upon them, that will be more than enough to keep them in line... although, if I may inquire... so long as the women are given to you alive, it matters not if they would be considered... damaged goods... by some, if you catch my drift?" The Director asked, licking his lips as he finished speaking.

[Snowy_One]

"For one night Gabbie. I am making a meal for the group to try and make up for all the strife and trouble I caused with my fighting with Gytha." said Robin with a small nod. "I do not know if that makes me the group cook or not though. Anyways, I need to get going. I do not know how to 'fry' Raquel, so I am sorry, but I do know how to make my native dishes well. Venison stew for all!" she chirped before heading down the ramp to head into town. She couldn't read the signs, but she knew damned well just what it was she was shopping for, so there shouldn't be any worries at all.

[Phoenix]

Gathering

"Stew?" Gabbie echoed. Robin was already on her way, so the initial response came from Raquel, who returned a blank look and a shrug. "No thanks. I prefer food I can eat with my hands."

"You could at least try it. She's being nice, here." Raquel muttered.

"Seriously what are the odds of every last person in this group gathering around for stew? Ringo can take my seat if you think it's that important. He'll eat anything." Gabbie replied, offering her wyvern instead.

Meeting

The messenger paused for a moment, leaving no hinting expressions on his face. He was deep in thought until finally he gave an answer. "Do what you wish with the others, but Valcyn must be left alone. It's a necessary precaution."

[ReformBlade]

Wandering over to the Dauntless, Aneda found herself a nice stash of gold that she generously relieved 914 gold pieces worth of. "This... This oughtta do just fine!" She said with a bit too much glee, smiling and jiggling the bag a bit. To her joy, she found a Faatina right next to her. "Oh! Faatina, I honestly didn't see you there... hehehehh... So like... I got my paycheck, wanna go celebrate a wee bit? I think we've got some free time if I recall correctly..."

"Eeuuugh, I'm not sure I have to be drunk to believe it. I mean... we live in a rather puzzling world to begin with, I'd believe just about anything..." He took a deep breath and settled himself down, taking a more relaxed stance in general. "Still, how do you fight a coffin? Seems like using conventional weaponry would be pretty pathetic. Stone is hard as hell, you'd break your spear or sword or anything thin on it before you do any significant structural damage, but I'm getting ahead of myself, I suppose it'd be better to discuss it over a drink like you said." Two drinks with the same woman? Well played, Davod...

[Acacia Sgt]

<So she wants to cook huh.> ''Well, can't say I was looking forward for stew tonight,'' John said. ''But in the end I guess it doesn't matter, it's food either way.'' He shrugged.